A fledgling Marsh hawk has much to learn

Last week, family and friends sat around the table outside enjoying the conversation and soaking up the warmth of the sun. Of course, there was a layer of 50 SPF between the skin and the sun's rays.

Last week, family and friends sat around the table outside enjoying the conversation and soaking up the warmth of the sun. Of course, there was a layer of 50 SPF between the skin and the sun's rays.

Suddenly, a hawk landed in a pitch pine less than 10 yards from where we were sitting.

Days earlier, a female Marsh hawk landed in the branches of a dead apple tree across the street. She dropped into a dense patch of beach roses, apparently spotting a tasty morsel for lunch. Females have gray heads and backs; males are smaller and darker.

I immediately assumed the one landing in the pitch pine was the same female, but when the hawk turned, it was evident that this was a young bird born in the spring and still getting use to flight and hunting.

The young of many of the birds of prey have a brown head and back and a contrasting streaking on the chest and belly.

The young hawk jumped down from one branch to another that had a growth of dense pine needles in the crotch. To our surprise it stretched out its wing and completely covered the area where the limb met the trunk of the tree.

Someone asked if it was hurt and I responded saying the stretched wing usually covers an object that the hawk intends to eat, but none of us could believe that anything could hide in the tiny space of the crotch of the tree limb.

There was a mixed response from the humans as the young Marsh hawk snatched a small sparrow with its beak and placed it in the talons of its left leg. It then flew almost directly over us and across a mowed lawn to another larger pitch pine to enjoy its feast.

My response was, "Wow!" but most others reacted with dismay and disgust.

Apparently, the hawk should have been vegan or at least shop for its food at the same market as we humans do.

I can never understand the disapproval humans have for birds and animals that hunt. There's this prevailing Disneyesque attitude that vilifies any carnivore activity and yet 97.5 percent of Americans are not vegetarians. But I digress.

The young Marsh hawk most likely began life with three to five other fledglings. Its parents will probably be life-long companions.

The female will build a nest close to the marsh where she and the male hunt for food. Where there is good habitat, there may be as many as three other neighboring Marsh hawks within a square mile of her nest.

The hawks living at the northern border of their range, which can be as far north as New Brunswick, may have to migrate in late November to winter in a more temperate climate. Those that migrate will return to their nesting site starting in February.

This early nesting routine coincides with an abundance of food arriving just as the young hawks are hatching and needing nourishment. A Marsh hawk's normal life span will be 12 years.

The Marsh hawk prefers to build her nest in marsh grasses or on the ground. The female will use leaves and stems of tall grasses and weeds as nesting materials. Both female and the male will keep a constant vigilance for predators such as raccoons, foxes, skunks, and minks. They will lead the predator away by pretending to be injured. If that doesn't work, they will swoop down on the animal and harass it with sharp cries and talons.

We resumed our conversation when suddenly I spotted the small sparrow falling from the tree in the exact place the hawk flew to devour it.

Before the sparrow hit the grass it regained its flight and bee-lined for the protection of the saltwater marshes. The Marsh hawk was in quick pursuit.

The young hawk has much to learn about survival and odds are in its favor that it will be around for a while to perfect its skills.

R.J. Mere can be reached at rjmere@gwi.net.

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